


Dismantled, Mishandled

by I_Live_In_A_Trash_Can



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen, i'll add tags when my brain decides to work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-02-12 01:16:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12948165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_Live_In_A_Trash_Can/pseuds/I_Live_In_A_Trash_Can
Summary: Five small YouTubers wake up to a strange sight; a workshop taken right out of a video game.But as they set off to find a way out, they discover that something else is at play...(Previously titled 'Misplaced'. Current title suggested by ProdigyGaming_YT)





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution to the BATIM fandom. I doubt it'll be my last.

_'Where am I?'_

Swiblet woke up to the floor hard and cold beneath him. There was no way that that was his bed. Had he rolled off of it when he slept? No, he couldn't have.

And wherever he was, it sure didn't smell like his crappy studio apartment. Still smelt crappy, but not _his_ kind of crappy.

He opened his eyes, looking up at the dimly lit ceiling above him. Wooden planks.

_'That's new.'_

He pulled himself into a sitting position with a grunt, glancing around. He was in a hallway of some sort, and he wasn't alone.

"What the heck?" He mouthed, trying to get a better look at the people around him. Four of them. _Four!_ How did they all get there?

One of his companions made a small noise, beginning to stir. After a few seconds they pushed themselves up. Bright blue eyes met his own brown ones. His companion jumped before the two recognized each other.

"Swiblet?"

"DAGames?"

"Where the hell are we?"

"Beats me."

There was another small groan as one of their other companions slowly woke up.

"Ugh, what on Earth?" A female voice muttered.

 

"No, on Jupiter," Will Ryan quipped with a snort.

The person to Swiblet's left lifted her head in confusion.

"Will? How did- Swiblet! Where are we?"

"Morning Squiggly! And honestly..."

"We have no clue," Swiblet finished.

"Well that's helpful," SquigglyDigg sighed, propping herself up on her elbows.

A loud, low moan rang through the hallway, followed by a murmured "Shut up and let me sleep."

Will gently kicked the leg of the man that had made the noise. "Get up. If you are who I think you are we may require your companionship."

The man sat up. "Where am I?"

"Caleb! Welcome to the fun, bud. None of us know what's going on."

Caleb Hyles glanced at the faces around him. "This is weird."

"No kidding," Hailey agreed, running a hand through her short hair.

Will glanced at the last person, who had yet to wake up. He gently shook the last man. He made a small noise in the back of his throat and started rolling over.

"Oh no you don't," Will grumbled, grabbing his arm and attempting to pull him up.

"Hm? What-" The man eased himself into a sitting position, looking at his companions dazedly.

"Oh, Triforcefilms! Almost didn't recognize you!" Will chirped.

"Why did I wake up on the floor and where are my glasses?" He glanced at the floor around him, trying to find his missing spectacles.

"Trying to figure that out, and dunno," Will yawned and pushed his bangs out of his face.

"I woke up with mine on," Hailey informed with a shrug.

"So all of us are awake now?" Swiblet asked, looking around to be sure that no one was left snoozing.

"I think so?" Caleb guessed.

"Aha!" Triforcefilms triumphantly called, pulling his glasses out of the pocket of his hoodie (decorated with his own logo) and putting them on. "That's better."

"Well then, now onto the next problem; where the hell are we?"

Will's question was met with a chorus of shrugs, shaking heads, and 'I don't know's.

"Does anyone at least have a clue about how we got here?"

"Last I checked, I was in pajama's, not clothes, and I was in bed. I have no clue how any of this happened," Caleb contributed.

"Did I even go to bed last night?" Whispered Hailey as she stared at the floor in confusion.

"Uh, guys?"

The group turned to face Triforcefilms as he stood up. "I think I just figured out where we are."

He stepped past Will and around Caleb, motioning to a poster on the wall.

_'BENDY in'_

_'The Dancing Demon'_

"How did I miss that?" Swiblet mused.

"How did _I_ miss that?" Will countered.

"So we're literally in a video game?" Hailey conceded.

"Not just any video game..." Swiblet began.

"Bendy and the Ink Machine," They all said in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a short chapter. Whoopsies. Next one will be longer. Questions? Critiques? Suggestions? Title idea? Did I forget about something important to the characters or setting? _Does anyone know Triforcefilms/Mr. Dooves' real name?_ Leave a comment! I appreciate it ^-^


	2. Exploration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang explore the peculiar workshop and three find something they weren't expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's twice the length of the first to make up for how short that one was. Enjoy!
> 
> (Warning: A bit of swearing)

"Nope."

Hailey got up, heading straight towards the door. "Nope nope nope nope."

"Squiggly, get back over here," Will sighed.

"This game scared the shit out of me when I was just _playing_ it. I cannot do this in real life. I'm going to be either killed by Benderoo or I'm going to have a heart attack and die."

"Hailey, you know the door's most likely locked, right? We're going to be forced to do this anyways," Caleb cautioned. Hailey tried the door anyways.

"Locked," She admitted.

"Squigg, if it makes you feel better, we're in this together," Swiblet spoke up. "Henry was alone in the studio. We're not. There are five of us, and none of us are old men. We can run faster, work faster, make it out of here together."

"Plus we can steal some of those cute Bendy plushies," Will interjected.

Hailey gave a half-hearted chuckle. "I guess both of you are right."

"Shall we explore?" Swiblet inquired, standing.

"Wouldn't hurt." Caleb stood as well.

"Away, to adventure!" Will declared, hopping to his feet.

"I'm guessing we'll have to turn on the machine?" Triforcefilms hypothesized, setting off down the hall.

"If this is anything like the game, I'm pretty sure the answer is yes," Swiblet said with a shrug.

"So, be on the lookout for the six magical items," Will concluded.

The group entered the room at the end of the hallway, and found it to be an exact replica of the first room in Chapter One of Bendy and the Ink Machine.

Hailey immediately made her way across the room to the Bendy cutout and turned it around so it faced the wall. Meanwhile, Triforcefilms inspected the single active projector nearby her. Swiblet peeked around the old animator's work desk. Will and Caleb scoured the other half of the room for clues or artifacts.

"So," Will began. "Triforcefilms. Or... Mr. Dooves? Got a preference, or another name, or-"

"Michael. I don't have a preference for what you call me, though."

"Nice. I might just call you Dooves. It's fun to say."

"Ha! It is, isn't it?"

Michael abandoned the projector in favor of checking doors to see if they unlocked. Hailey stayed close to the center of the room, keeping watch over the hallways.

"Swiblet," Will spoke again. "So... you got a-"

"If you're looking for real names, mine's Ben."

"That's not gonna get confusing," Caleb jokingly remarked.

"We should probably split up to find the items," Michael suggested. "Cover more ground in less time?"

"Sounds good. Who's going with who?" Will queried.

"I don't care who I'm with, as long as they can handle creepy things better than I can," Hailey stated.

"Go with Swiblet," Will proposed.

Ben shrugged. "Sure. I'd say I can handle creepy things okay-ish."

"You two head towards the Ink Machine. Caleb, Dooves, head towards the one area with Boris and shit. I'll stop by Henry's desk and see if there's anything new there, then I'll catch up to one of you."

"A'ight," Caleb murmured with a small nod, motioning Michael to come with him. Ben and Hailey were close behind as the two groups headed off down one hallway. Will proceeded to the one on the other side of the room.

 

 

Will gave Henry's desk a quick look-over. Nothing out of the ordinary.

"Henry, speak to us. Guide us with your voice to figure out what the actual fuck we're supposed to be doing," He called, not expecting an answer.

Expectation met.

He turned to the boarded up doorway behind the desk. There was a set of stairs behind it. He experimentally attempted to pull one of the boards loose.

"Crap," he muttered. "You're old and decrepit. Break, please." He pulled at the board again, before letting go with a small yelp.

"Damn it! Splinter!" Will examined his palm, finding the splinter. He sighed. "That's not coming out easily."

He gave up and walked back out into the main room. He peeked down the other hall, finding it empty. "Off to reunite with my companions," He decided aloud.

He set off down the hall, choosing to ignore the slight pain in the back of his head.

 

 

The other four had found themselves standing outside of the Ink Machine room, an open hallway to their left and a locked door to their right.

"Wait, did we miss the room Boris was in?" Caleb wondered.

"Don't ask me, I'm terrible with directions and I forgot how this map works entirely," Ben said, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"The hallway splits there," Michael acknowledged. "Maybe we'll head down... one of those halls? I forgot which one Boris was in."

"Right?" Caleb suggested.

"Sure. We'll go right, and when you're done with the Ink Machine you two can go left."

"Got it," Hailey confirmed.

Caleb and Michael headed off down the rightmost hallway while Ben and Hailey entered the Ink Machine room. They finished checking it for artifacts in less than a minute.

"Well then. That was useless," Hailey sighed.

"I agree. But we still have another hallway to check, not to mention two more that are already being checked. One of the others could have found something."

"True. Let's hurry up, I don't want to-" Hailey paused when she caught the smiling gaze of a Bendy cutout in the corner. She strode over and turned it around before continuing. "I don't want to stay here for longer than we have to. I'm already starting to get a headache."

"Relax, Squigg. We'll get out of here. For now, let's head down the other hallway."

The two left the Ink Machine room and headed down the left hall, a mere second before a familiar face peeked around the corner.

 

 

Michael peeked behind a Bendy cutout, finding nothing interesting. He propped it back up on the wall and hopped over the two boards that sectioned off the cutout from the rest of the hall.

"Geez, man! A few extra steps is all it takes," Caleb exclaimed.

"I went the funner way," Michael replied with a small smirk.

"Whatever," Caleb chuckled. "Let's head down. Nothing special over here."

The two soon reached another split in the hallway. On the right they could see into the room with the six pedestals and main power switch. To the left was Boris.

"Hey, what do you know, my guess was right!"

"Choosing right was the _right_ choice," Michael joked, gently elbowing Caleb.

"Oh shut up," Caleb returned with a laugh.

The two entered the main power room first.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Caleb noted.

"Yup. Shall we pay Boris a visit?"

"Sure."

The two left and started towards the room where Boris lay strapped to a table, his chest cut open and-

"Wait a second, that's the wrench!!"

Michael sped to a run, clearing the hallway in two seconds. He yanked the wrench out of Boris' chest cavity, wincing slightly at the smell of rotting ink.

"The wrench definitely wasn't there before," Caleb started after he had caught up to his companion. "And wasn't there supposed to be a Bendy cutout appearing out of nowhere, or was that not until later on?"

"Wait, that's right. The jumpscare was supposed to happen as soon as Henry left the pedestal room for the first time."

"We're not Henry."

"But we're pretty much taking his place."

Caleb sighed and glanced back into the hallway. Empty still.

"We should probably start heading back. Ol' Boris here stinks, and the smell is starting to make my head hurt," Michael urged.

"Ditto."

"Should we drop the wrench off or take it with us?"

"Let's drop it off. We're close by, and we don't want it to get lost."

"True."

The pair placed the wrench on it's pedestal before walking back to the main room.

 

 

_"At this point, I don't get what Joey's plan is for this company. The animations sure aren't being done on time anymore. And I certainly don't see why we need this... machine. It's noisy, it's messy, and who needs that much ink anyway?"_

Ben jiggled a doorknob while Hailey listened to the recording.

"We already know what Wally's talking about. Why are you listening to the tape?"

"I'm waiting for him to say it..."

"Say what?"

_"I think he's lost his mind, but hey, he writes the checks."_

"Here it is..."

_"But I tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst,"_

"I'm outta here!" Chorused Hailey along with the recording. "Alright we're good, let's head to the-"

"Squiggly! Swib! There you are. I guess I got a bit mixed up with directions, huh?" Will called, rounding the corner.

"A little," Swiblet replied. "Caleb and Triforcefilms are down the other hall."

"I figured. So, did you find anything yet?"

"Nope, but we haven't finished looking yet."

"Then let's finish."

Will strode down the hall, Ben and Hailey close behind. Soon they arrived at the projector room, which housed the Ink Pressure button. However, they came across a peculiar sight.

"What the hell?"

"Fuck."

"Getting through there isn't gonna be easy..."

The room was blocked off by a towering wall of precisely stacked chairs, with a few boards and a projector or two tossed in.

"How the hell do we get through that?" Hailey breathed, tugging on the leg of a chair. It didn't budge.

"Maybe we should go back and worry about this a little later?" Ben suggested.

"We still have to check the doors in this hallway. Maybe we'll find something that'll help us get through the Great Wall of Chairs," Will reasoned.

"True. You get this one, I'll get the one further down?" Ben offered.

"Sure."

Will opened his door. "Closet. Nothing but projectors... And soup of course. That's totally not going to be expired."

Ben snorted in amusement before reaching his door and trying the handle. It opened.

"Um... Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this was NOT in the game..."

Hailey and Will hurried over, peeking into the opened room.

Or rather, hallway. The walls of it were covered in posters advertising episodes of Bendy cartoons. Doors were dotted here and there. It smelled musty, and had several cobwebs stretching across the floor and ceiling.

"Yeah. This is definitely not in the game," Muttered Will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Michael is not Triforcefilm's real name. No, I don't know why I chose that as a placeholder. Yes, Ben is Swiblet's real name. Yes, I have proof. (SPOILERS for Chapter 3): https://youtu.be/yLlGLqRaS8Y?t=2h2m51s


	3. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang has a talk that leaves them even more confused than they were before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took longer than expected to finish. But here it is!
> 
> (Also sing-alongs are way too fun to write)

"Welcome back! We found something."

"We happened to find something as well. A couple somethings, in fact."

"Really?" Michael stood from the chair that he had pulled up to the makeshift table that lay in between two wooden pillars. Caleb, who sat across from him, stood as well and turned to face the returning Will and co.

"Neither of them are really good," Ben warned.

"Or canon," Hailey added under her breath.

"We just found the wrench," Caleb reported quietly.

"We found a giant hecking wall of chairs," Hailey returned.

"A giant hecking wall of chairs that block off the ink pressure whatchamacallit," Added Will.

"That's not going to be easy to get past..." Michael murmured.

"Also, this map isn't quite the same as the original Chapter One map," Ben put in.

"Huh?"

"You haven't been checking doors, have you?" Will inquired.

"We checked a few, but not all of them," Michael admitted.

"We found a whole other hallway on the other side of a door down by the pressure room," Ben clarified. "A door that I'm pretty sure was locked in the original Chapter One. Not entirely, but pretty sure."

"Can you show us?" Michael asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I believe you, but at the same time..." Caleb vacillated.

"I need to sit down for a minute," Muttered Hailey, making her way over to a chair. "My head's hurting and I'm so scared, I can feel my heart pounding."

"You ok, Squiggly?" Will followed her with a look of concern on his face.

"Yeah just, I'm freaking terrified. I thought I could just remember where the jumpscares are and stay with someone braver than I am and be ok. But no. What if this isn't Chapter One? Like, yeah it looks similar, but we've already kinda proven that it's not. And just thinking about it makes my head hurt even more!!"

"How long have you had your headache?"

"Since, I don't know. About the time we split up to look for the items."

"Weird. My head's been hurting a bit since then as well. Nothing major," Michael noted.

"Honestly, same," Caleb contributed.

"I've been trying to ignore it. Figured I would take a Tylenol and a can or two of Monster when I get home," Will admitted.

"So am I the only one without a headache?"

The gang turned to look at Ben, who glanced around in confusion.

"I'll take the silence as a yes."

"This is really weird," Caleb whispered.

"No kidding. I'm half ready to say this is all a dream," Will commented.

"There's no way that this is a dream," Hailey grumbled.

"That's what the dream people always say."

"Guys, there's something else that's bothering me," Ben spoke up.

"Yes, Dream-Swib?"

Ben ignored Will's remark, instead turning to question him. "I've been thinking... You live in the UK, right?"

"Currently, why?"

"Triforce. Where do you live?"

"Canada," Michael replied after a second of hesitation.

"Squiggly, Caleb, you two live in the United States like I do, correct?"

The two nodded as realization slowly dawned on them all.

"Then how the hell did at least two of us move across a continent, or to a whole different continent entirely, overnight?"

"Better yet, _where the hell are we?_ " Caleb countered.

The group fell silent, each trying to come up with an explanation.

"Hopping aboard the This-Is-A-Dream train," Michael quietly spoke after about a minute of silence.

"Choo-choo," Will uttered under his breath.

"That doesn't make any sense either. If this is a dream, who's the one who's asleep? Or are we all sleeping and somehow simultaneously dreaming the same thing?" Ben sighed, pulling a chair over and sitting down.

"It's possible," Caleb reasoned.

"I don't care, I just want to get out of here," Hailey groaned.

"Quick everyone, pinch yourselves. It's a sure-fire way to tell whether you're asleep or not," Will interjected.

Hailey elbowed Will, trying to hide the smile slowly growing on her face. "Stop it, I'm trying to be mad here."

"Hey, I said pinch, not elbow."

"Guys, should we explore a bit more? Those items aren't gonna find themselves," Michael chimed in.

"He's right," Ben commented with a shrug.

"Let's make sure we're not missing anything in this room first," Caleb suggested, already beginning to search.

"We already checked this room," Will pointed out.

"Never hurts to double check. Speaking of which, can someone double check Henry's desk?"

"Got it," Ben said, standing and heading down the hall.

"I already checked there!" Will whined.

"When we glanced into Boris' room there was nothing. Checked again, the wrench was in his chest," Michael defended.

"Yeah but you could have just not seen it the first time. That hallway is short, ending in a tiny-ass room. I checked that place and there was no-"

"Found the inkwell!" Ben shouted from the hall.

_**"Oh come on!"** _

Ben returned, artifact in hand, as Will buried his head in his hands.

"Fuck it," The Brit muttered. "Let's just- Fuck it. Come on." He started towards the other hall.

"Where are you going?" Hailey inquired.

"We're going to bring that thing to the pedestal room, aren't we?"

The rest of the group followed Will toward the pedestal room. None of them were in a very good mood. Their meeting had created more questions than answers. They were in front of the Ink Machine room when Ben came up with an idea.

_"They have sent you a letter to come back home to play._  
_But to your dismay this isn't your day_  
_For the happy fun time has begun to fade,"_ He softly sung as he stepped beside Will and made eye contact; a silent invite for him to sing along. Will smirked but didn't sing. Luckily, Caleb seemed to pick up on the sing-along and joined in.

_"Watch as we reanimate, our corpses you've abandoned,"_

Hailey started to sing as well, elbowing Will and Michael in a wordless gesture to join.

_"We're dismantled, we're mishandled, but we won't be skipped and swayed."_

Michael took his cue, joining in by singing the notes of the piano riff.

_"Trapped within these walls you left our souls to drip away_  
_The ink decayed, the walls at bay but the reckoning has come today_  
_You say_  
_Boris has no guts 'cause you replaced it with mechanical strain,"_

The gang had stopped moving, growing louder and more confident as they sang. Each urged Will to join in, smiles growing across their faces.

_"We've been tortured but we move forward this disorder kills your day!"_

Finally Will burst into song in his Bendy voice, and Build Our Machine echoed through the halls.

_"I am alive! Immortalized! You're the creator, you traitor. Hey! There's no vaccine to cure our dirty needs. For now you must build up our machine you die-"_

They were interrupted by a thunderous crash from somewhere else in the studio. The group froze, realizing just how loud they had gotten.

Nearly a full minute passed before someone dared to speak.

"What the hell?" Ben whispered.

"So maybe this studio doesn't like random musical numbers," Will quipped.

"Let's hurry up and get the inkwell to the pedestal room because I do not like this," Hailey hissed.

The group hurried down the hall and into the pedestal room. Ben placed the inkwell on it's pedestal.

"Two down, four to go," Will noted.

"Should we do a door check to make sure we aren't missing anything?" Ben inquired.

"That'd be a good idea," Caleb opined.

"Wouldn't hurt," Will said with a shrug. He headed out of the room, the rest of the group following close behind. They had just stepped out of the room when they were met with a surprise.

_"SHIT!"_

_"Woah, what the-"_

_"BIST!!!"_

_"Jesus fucking Christ!"_

Hailey viciously grabbed the Bendy cutout that had appeared in the hall and threw it to the floor.

"MOTHER OF GOD," Hailey began before descending into a quiet stream of curses, burying her head in her hands.

"So NOW it shows up," Michael sighed.

"Wanted to scare the whole gang, I guess," Caleb muttered with an exasperated expression.

"That thing gave me a heart attack!" Hailey whimpered. "I don't like this, I don't like this, I want to go home."

Ben hugged Hailey, prompting a startled squeak from her. The rest of the group filed into the hug as well. They remained there for a minute that seemed to stretch to the length of an hour before Hailey was calm again.

"Thank you," She whispered.

"No problem," Ben said as he pulled away.

"It's going to be ok, Hailey," Caleb assured, pulling away from the hug as well.

"We're all friends here," Michael added, giving Hailey a small pat on the back before pulling away.

"What they said. We're not gonna leave you. We're in this hellhole together and we're going to get out of it together, damn it!" Will finished as he pulled away.

"Then let's keep going," Hailey affirmed.

"So, who's ready to check some doors?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to continue this story, and I'm glad people seem to like it! Chapter 4 or 5 is where the action starts picking up (I'm thinking more Chapter 5 at this point), and I may or may not let you figure out what's going on on your own.  
> Questions? Critiques? Suggestions? Leave a comment. Fuel my fanfic-writing fire. (Maybe even leave a kudos if you really liked it.) I hope you enjoyed!


	4. Door Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang checks doors.
> 
> Also, Michael gets a one-way ticket to Angst Town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am officially on Winter break, so I have a full two weeks to ~~procrastinate~~ write fanfiction!
> 
> This chapter ended up longer (and angstier) than I planned. Whoops.

"This is certainly new."

Will stared down the hall he had just uncovered by opening a door along the hallway to the Ink Machine room.

"Guys, this door is unlocked! Someone help me get this crap out of the way," Hailey called from where she tugged at a chair that lay in the mess along the wall where the words _"DREAMS COME TRUE"_ were ominously painted.

"Gotcha, Squigg," Ben called from further down the hallway where he had opened a door that led downstairs into a break room or lunch room of some sorts. He stepped around Will on his way to Hailey, glancing at the new hall.

"Gotta explore that one too, I guess," Ben muttered before continuing and taking hold of a board that prevented the chair Hailey pulled at from moving.

 

 

Deeper into the studio, Caleb meticulously checked old shelves and dusty animator's desks for artifacts in a small room next to Boris'. He found nothing besides another door, which brought him right back into the hallway. He shrugged and headed back towards the Ink Machine room.

 

 

Michael leaned against a wall, rubbing his temple. His headache had seemed to have gotten worse since he had split up from the rest of the group to inspect the hallway unearthed near the Pressure room. The hallway was a headache in and of itself. Some doors were locked, some unlocked but they didn't open all the way. Those that were unlocked rarely led to actual rooms. One or two yielded closets of old projectors and expired bacon soup, while most led to completely different hallways with even more doors. One room was filled ceiling to floor with Bendy cutouts.

He didn't really like that room.

 

 

The door flung open and Hailey stumbled back, only to be caught by Ben.

"And, open sesame," Hailey proudly stated.

The room was dimly lit (more so than the rest of the studio), and it was hard to discern what lay await inside. Hailey inched behind Ben and pushed him in the door's direction.

"You go first," She whimpered.

"Hey, I have my own room to look through," Ben protested, heading back down the hall. Will peeked into the new room curiously.

"Hey, I think I finally found somewhere darker than my soul," The Brit quipped.

Hailey burst into laughter for the first time since they had woken up in the studio.

 

 

Michael sighed and proceeded down the hall. There were only three more doors to open, then he could go back and check individual hallways. Last one on the left; Locked. He figured it was such. Middle; Unlocked. A closet. Last on right; Unlocked, and yet another hallway. He sighed and started off down the hall on the right. Seeing as he was right there, it was no use walking all the way back down to start at the beginning. First door on the left. Locked. First door on the right. Closet.

He sighed again and rubbed his head, frustrated from the number of useless doors and hallways in this place, along with his ever growing headache.

 

 

Caleb rounded the corner, glancing between Will and Hailey. "What's the joke?" He inquired.

"Caleb, you go in there," Hailey unceremoniously grabbed Caleb's arm and dragged him towards the door, still chuckling slightly.

"Woah woah, dark spooky room. No thank you."

"We've got other places to check," Will reasoned, "And unless you found something where you were, you're open for checking new things. Check the new thing."

"No thank you. I will go with you to wherever else you need to check, but I am NOT going in there alone."

"Then let's see if Dooves is done, or if he needs help or whatever."

 

 

Ben descended the creaking stairs into a high-ceilinged room with several tables surrounded by chairs. He spotted the punch-in clock against one wall and smirked.

_'Don't forget to PUNCH IN! It could SAVE your job.'_

He tried to figure out how to work it, to no avail. So, there was only one thing he could do. Search.

He checked the tables, opened the door by the stairs (it was a closet. Whoopee.), and peeking down the blocked off hallway on the other side of the room. Nothing. He sighed, looking over the room one last time. He gave up and sat down on a chair in the corner of the room. He was surprised the thing held his weight. He would've figured that the old decaying chair would have turned into dust if someone so much as breathed in it's direction.

 

 

Michael let out an even louder sigh. He was hardly halfway through when he uncovered yet another hallway.

"This place is just a giant maze of halls," He grumbled aloud. "Might as well leave a trail of string to help me find a way out. Better yet, help the others find _me."_

He placed his hand on the knob of the next door, about to open it, when he heard a faint yell. He jerked his head towards it's direction, the sudden motion causing him to wince as his headache assaulted him yet again.

He didn't know who had yelled, or why. The uncertainty made him nervous. He slipped down the new hall he had uncovered and started checking doors for a possible hiding place.

 

 

Will peeked into the closet with a sigh. "Nothing useful he-"

Hailey shrieked and leapt backwards, tripping over the chair that had been inconveniently placed almost right next to the door she had opened. Caleb caught her before she could hit the floor.

"Squiggly! You ok?"

"STUPID BENDY CUTOUTS-" She started, before stopping to take deep breaths. The smiling face of a cutout had fallen out of the door and stopped it from opening all of the way. Caleb helped Hailey to her feet and moved the chair back. Will curiously tugged at the cutout, trying to free the door.

"Is there even anything behind that door?" Caleb inquired.

"That's what I'm about to find out," Will announced, pushing the door open. What lay on the other side was an ancient, dim, dusty hallway filled to the brim with Bendy cutouts.

"Nope."

Hailey backed away from the door. "Nope nope nope. Not going down there."

"Neither am I. That's a big nopearoo right there," Will agreed, pulling it closed and backing away as well.

Ben rounded the corner, looking at each of the three in turn. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah. Just found Bendy cutouts," Will summarized. "A lot of 'em."

"Well that's not freaky."

 

 

Michael sighed for the umpteenth time, burying his head in his hands. The workshop had gone quiet, but his head still felt like it was being cracked open. He pushed the pain aside and continued. He had work to do, and he wasn't going to leave it unfinished. So far all of the doors in the new hallway were either locked or closets, and he was over halfway through. That was either a good sign or a really bad one.

He saw a light underneath one of the doors. Curious, he checked the handle. Unlocked. The door swung open and a bit more light spilled into the hallway. He slowly wandered down the revealed corridor, finding it to be rather short with no doors in sight. It made a left turn at the end however.

Pain continued to shock through his skull, getting worse and worse as he neared the end. He heard a faint murmur of sound, but couldn't distinguish what it was.

He blocked it out, as he had tried to block out his intense migraine, but to no avail. He finally reached the turn. And peering around the corner, there was the record, propped up on a crate and glimmering in the light.

 

 

"So, what now?"

"We still have to catch up to Michael, and we still have that other room to check back by the Ink Machine. The other hallway there, too. And if someone is brave enough, they can check the creepy Bendy hall."

"Hopefully this place isn't too big. If it isn't, we can get out of here quick."

 

 

He wasn't sure if the murmuring was still there or not. All he knew was that his head felt like it was on the brink of exploding, and he had found the record.

He stumbled forward, grabbing the record from it's perch.

Pain suddenly shot through his body. He let out a small yelp, tumbling to the floor. Death grip on the record.

He gasped for breath, the world slowly fading to black.

He clutched the record to his chest, closed his eyes, and fell limp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise Michael is alive (for now at least)
> 
> But anyways ACTION'S PICKING UP! Theories? Questions? Critiques? Leave a comment! I'm excited to see what you guys think ^-^
> 
> More will be explained in the next chapter (plus some huge hints). Hope you enjoyed!


	5. Mishandled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will hops on the angst train. Hailey deserves all hugs.
> 
> (I promise no death yet)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone!
> 
> Also, as you can probably tell, I changed the title of the fanfic. Special thanks to ProdigyGaming_YT for the suggestion.
> 
> (I'm a sucker for titles inspired by song lyrics I'm sorry)

"Did you hear that?"

The four froze.

"Those are never good words to hear in a horror game. ESPECIALLY not a real-life one," Hailey muttered, shuddering as a chill ran through her body.

"But someone else heard that too, right?" Will pleaded, nervousness edging his voice. "It wasn't just me that heard the thud and scream-thing?"

"I heard it," Ben murmured, gently patting Hailey on the shoulder.

"I heard it too. Sounds like it came from somewhere by the ink pressure room."

"Like... The hallway Michael was checking out?"

The implications of what that could mean made the four grow silent yet again. Hailey stared intently down the hall, muscles tensed in case she needed to run.

"I'm going to check it out," Will decided, biting back his fear and turning to walk down the hallway.

"Will, no!" Hailey grabbed his arm.

"We don't know what that was. It could be dangerous," Caleb warned.

"We don't want you getting hurt," Ben agreed.

Will quickly glanced around the room, catching sight of a lone board. He picked it up.

"I'll go armed then. But I can't just leave Dooves there, facing whatever the hell is out there. You guys can search other places, try to find an item or two. But don't worry. I'll be careful, I'll find Dooves, and I'll bring him back."

"Will-"

"Squiggly, I'll be fine-"

"Listen to me-"

"Hailey. You, Caleb and Swib can go check the new hallway or new room back by the machine room. Trust me. I can handle this."

Hailey sighed, uttering something under her breath about becoming a hero. However, she gave Will one last hug before turning to walk back to the machine room. Caleb did the same, whereas Ben patted him on the back and gave him a confident nod.

And thus, the groups parted.

 

 

Will slowly peeked down a doorway, wooden board brandished and ready to strike. He was nearly entirely down the main hall. So far, there must have been a dozen other hallways branching off from the main one. How he'd ever find Michael, he didn't know.

Finally, at the very end of the hall he spotted the only one with open doors. He proceeded a bit more cautiously, doing his best not to make a sound and to check all around him as he walked.

He came across a smaller and more well-lit hallway branching off from the main one; the last open door. He glanced behind himself before cautiously slipping into the hall. He checked for any signs of Bendy or other ink creatures, and most importantly, for Michael. It was when he reached the end of the hall when he saw it.

_"Michael!"_

 

 

Checking doors was a meticulous task. Especially when most doors led to even more hallways and even more useless dead ends.

"We've gotta find a way to label off the dead ends and unneeded rooms in case someone has to find a hiding place quickly," Hailey growled.

"Along with the places already checked, so we don't keep re-visiting the same areas," Ben added.

"Both would be helpful in the long run," Caleb commented.

Hailey sighed after unveiling yet another closet and leaned up against the wall. "I hope Will and Michael are ok," She murmured, mainly to herself. "I want to get out of here and take a Tylenol as soon as possible, and I do NOT want casualties to be a part of this."

Ben strode over from where he had been opening doors and pulled Hailey into a hug.

"It's gonna be alright, Squigg. We'll all make it out of this."

She said nothing, resting her head on Ben's shoulder and letting herself be comforted. Caleb joined in on the hug as well.

After a moment, Caleb reluctantly spoke up. "Should we keep going? We still need to finish this hallway up."

Hailey nodded, and they all pulled away from the hug.

"Thank you. Both of you," Hailey whispered, before taking a deep breath.

"Let's do this."

 

 

Will dropped his makeshift weapon with a clatter, falling to the ground beside Michael.

"Dooves, buddy, are you ok?"

He gently shook the acapellist, noticing the record he clung to his chest.

"What the actual fuck happened to you?!"

The man shifted slightly, his eyes blinking open.

"Dooves!! Thank God. What happened?! Are you ok?"

Michael rubbed his temples, releasing the artifact from his death grip.

"How the hell did you end up in the floor?" Will offered him a hand to help him up. Michael simply looked up at Will with wonder in his eyes.

"Are you gonna say something or what? You're starting to freak me out."

"Apologies," Michael muttered. His voice seemed a bit deeper and smoother, but Will didn't question.

"Let me help you up, bud."

Michael accepted Will's still outstretched hand, grabbing the record and clutching it under his other arm. Will stood, helping pull Michael onto his feet. He stumbled slightly, legs shaking as if it where his first time standing in a while.

"Come on, Swib Caleb and Squiggly are waiting for us. Squiggly in particular was worried. She'll be relieved to find out we're both alive. Plus, you actually found the record! That's three down!"

Michael gave a slow, dazed nod, glancing down at the record under his arm.

"Are you ok? You don't seem so hot. Not to mention you were on the fucking ground, and you looked like you had been knocked out or something."

He continued to stare at the record, a smile slowly growing across his face.

Red flags went off in Will's brain.

_'This isn't right.'_

"Dooves?" He muttered, slowly reaching out to put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

A look of realization flashed across Michael's face and he glanced back up at Will, catching his eyes.

"Dooves, what's going-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Will was on the floor.

 

 

The three finished the main hallway with no groundbreaking discoveries. They had split up for checking the smaller hallways. Ben and Hailey began across from each other at the start of the hall, while Caleb started at the back.

The work was tedious as ever, and it didn't help that Hailey was still concerned about their two missing group members.

_'Come back safe, and soon!'_

 

 

"What the hell?!!?!"

Will rubbed his freshly slapped cheek, glancing back at Michael in bewilderment. However, the other man was already taking action.

He pinned Will to the ground and wrapped his hands around the Brit's neck.

He gasped, fear and shock pulsing through his veins with a dash of adrenaline. He squirmed, trying to pull his attacker's hands. He was almost succeeding, too.

But one glance up at Michael-

No. It couldn't be Michael. There was a look in his eyes that was so... _unlike_ Michael.

Michael wouldn't do this.

Black caressed the corners of his vision, and pain swelled through his head, throat, and lungs. It wasn't long before dots danced their way across his eyes as well.

Only then did Michael let go.

_"My Lord, arise and claim the sheep you have chosen and that I have presented you!"_

That wasn't Michael speaking. The voice sounded familiar, though...

_"Return to me, my Lord. I have done as you asked. Let us reclaim what is ours!"_

Will's mind was racing. He couldn't place a name. And despite the man's hands being removed from his neck, he still couldn't breathe. Almost as if they were still there.

Pressing and pressing.

Darker and darker.

And the pain just grew.

It kept growing, growing, _growing growing **growing ~~growinggrowinggrowing-~~**_

He stopped struggling and everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Choo choo_
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a comment (Or a kudos if you really liked it). Now if you'll excuse me, it's way past my bedtime and I'm already half asleep.


	6. Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The door is open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-  
> It's been ALMOST A YEAR and I can FINALLY update this! I'm sorry for the wait.
> 
> I'd like to add; I started writing this story before Chapter 3. I based the map used in the story after the Chapter 1 map after the first revision at the release of Chapter 2. But of course, there are differences...

"Can we go back to the main room?"

Caleb and Ben turned at Hailey in curiosity.

"We're not done here yet," Caleb reminded.

"I know but... What if Will and Michael are back and they're in the main room? M-maybe they thought we would regroup there o-or something. We should check the main room."

"Squigg, calm down. I don't think they would've missed us if they had headed to the main room, considering this main hall is literally right next to the main room. But if it'll make you feel better, we can go check."

Hailey nodded. "Yes please."

With that, the three abandoned their impossible maze of hallways and walked to the main room.

It was empty.

"Not here," Caleb acknowledged. "Sorry Hailey. Doesn't look like they're back yet."

Hailey sunk into an old chair, burying her head in her hands. Ben approached, patting her on the back.

"Are you ok?"

She gave a loud sigh. "Yeah. Sorry. I'm just really worried. My head still hurts like hell, and that isn't helping matters much either."

Caleb pulled up a chair beside Hailey and gently rubbed her arm. "I still have a headache too. It might be best if we all just take a quick break."

Ben nodded in agreement, pulling up a chair as well.

They sat in silence for a minute or so. In that timeframe, Ben's mind was swamped with questions.

Why was he the only one without a headache? Or was there no real reason for it? How did they even get here? Was any of this real? Would they get out?

And where the hell were Will and Michael?

As if on cue, Ben was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice from across the room.

"There you guys are!"

 

 

"WILL!"

Hailey launched herself off the chair, pulling the Brit into a bear hug.

"You're back! Thank God!"

"You're a bit eager, aren't ya?" Will chuckled, patting Hailey on the back. She let go of him and pulled Michael into a similar bear hug instead.

"Both of you are safe!"

Michael dazedly stiffened at the sudden hug, but didn't attempt to pull away.

"Welcome back! I knew you'd be smart enough to not die," Ben chimed in as he and Caleb walked over.

"What took you so long?" Hailey snapped, releasing the still-stunned Michael.

"Well, we found something."

Will nudged Michael. The other man snapped out of it and got the hint. He held up the gleaming record.

"Oh my gosh..."

"No way!"

"We're halfway there!"

Michael gave a small smile, glancing over to Will.

"So, to the pedestal room?" Ben suggested.

Will nodded, gesturing the others to follow as he headed towards their destination. They followed close behind.

"Wait a minute," Hailey said before they reached their destination, pausing the group's movement. "Michael, dude. What happened? We heard you scream."

"Oh yeah, that's right! Are you ok?" Ben asked.

Michael blinked, caught off guard. "Oh, yeah, I'm ok."

"He tripped," Will cut in with a chuckle.

"Got a little scared," Michael added.

"Did you hurt your throat? You don't sound quite the same," Caleb noted.

Michael cleared his throat a little self-consciously. "Yeah. It doesn't hurt too badly, though. I think I just need a bit of water."

"Not sure if we have that here," Hailey said.

"I'll be okay. Let's just get the record back," Michael insisted.

With that, the group kept going.

 

 

"We're just missing the doll and the gear," Ben noted aloud.

"And still a heck of a lot of workshop to check still," Hailey added with a sigh.

"So what hasn't been checked yet, exactly?" Will inquired.

"We never finished checking the one hallway beside the Ink Machine," Caleb recalled.

"Or that one dark room," Hailey muttered with a shiver.

"Technically, we haven't checked the one hallway full of Bendy cutouts," Ben mentioned, hesitation clear in his tone.

"I do NOT want to check that one," Hailey almost instantly replied.

"Michael, did you check the entire hallway you found the record in?" Caleb asked.

"No," Michael replied after a short pause.

"Then how about," Will began, "I'll go with Dooves to finish looking through that hall, while the rest of you check out the dark room?"

Caleb, Ben, and Hailey hesitated.

"You know what? Sure," Ben spoke up.

Hailey sighed. "Ok."

"Why not?" Caleb included with a shrug.

"Nice," Will said with a smile. "Meet up back here when we're finished, then?"

Nods and words of agreement passed around the group.

"Alright then, let's go."

 

 

Caleb took the first step.

He wasn't scared of the dark.

At least, when he wasn't alone, he wasn't scared of the dark.

And the small nervous whimpers behind him reminded him that he wasn't alone.

"Hailey, it's ok. I'm in the room and nothing is attacking me."

He felt movement behind him and to the left. He glanced back to see Ben had entered alongside him.

"Check the walls, there might be a light switch."

He turned to look at Hailey, who was reaching in to feel along the wall. Before he could help either of them, the lights flickered on.

"Oh, found it!" Hailey called from the door.

The sides of the walls were decorated with old, stained, peeling wallpaper. The two closest walls were lined with bookshelves, some full, others almost empty. In the farthest corner was a desk, covered in a few unlit candles and piles and piles of papers. An old wooden chair was tucked under it, and a much comfier-looking but broken chair was in another corner. There were also a few filing cabinets close by. The place was strangely untouched by ink, though everything was coated in dust.

"What is this place supposed to be?" Caleb practically whispered. Hailey pulled a book off the nearest shelf, coughing as dust rained from it.

Ben strode over to the desk, picking up a paper and blowing dust off of it.

"Hey, this was written for Joey Drew!"

Hailey put the book back before racing over, Caleb having already come up beside Ben.

"This was written by workers threatening a strike if they don't get a raise," Caleb summarized.

"Woah," Hailey muttered.

"There are more," Ben added, gesturing to the desk. Most of the visible papers were from old Sillyvision workers to the boss himself.

"So this room belonged to Joey," Hailey stated.

"Wow. Weird. Why was it unlocked?" Ben wondered aloud. He continued to look through the papers.

Caleb jiggled the drawers of some of the filing cabinets, finding that most of them were locked.

Hailey looked over the bookshelves, running a finger over the spines of some. It always came away dusty.

"All of these papers are either to or from Joey," Ben told the others as he filed through them. He sneezed from the rising waves of dust.

"Hey, some of these books look like rough drafts of something," Hailey acknowledged, flipping through worn pages of one.

Caleb chuckled. "Are you suggesting that they're early drafts of-"

"The Illusion of Living', by none other than Mr. Joey Drew!" Ben suddenly pronounced, lifting the book from under the papers.

"No way!" Hailey gasped, putting the book she had been reading back.

"Oh sweet! Just one more item to go, then we can finally fire this sucker up!" Caleb said in relief.

"Let's take this back to its pedestal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, it feels good to get this bad boy out! I have future chapters planned out. There is no set due date for them, however.


	7. Chairs and Corridors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang tries to piece things together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look I actually did stuff.

"It's gone."

All eyes were on Will.

"What's gone?" Hailey asked, nervousness bleeding into her voice.

"The hall Dooves found the record in. It... We went back to it and it was locked."

Michael nodded to confirm the other's statement. Both looked confused.

"Are you sure?" Ben inquired after a second of hesitation.

"Yes, we are. It's locked. Can't open it."

The group fell silent.

"We found the book," Caleb mentioned, gesturing to Ben. Ben held it up, a bit halfheartedly.

"That's not the point right now. What if there was something else we needed in that hallway?" Hailey exclaimed.

"No point in worrying about it now," Caleb said with a sigh.

"He's right," Will added. "Whatever happened to it, we can't do anything about it."

Ben placed the book on it's pedestal. "Keep moving forward. That's all we have to do."

Hailey let out a small sigh. "Sorry. This whole thing is stressing me out, big time."

"Don't worry, Squiggly," Will comforted, walking over to her and giving her a small hug. "Just look, we're almost there! Two more."

"Wait, shit, that's right! I forgot about the gear!" Caleb gasped.

"Anyways, what's the next plan of action?" Ben asked.

Everyone found their attention drifting to Will. The Brit had been the one taking command for the majority of their adventure. He realized this, and quickly glanced around the group.

"Caleb?"

Said man gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

"You... and Michael. Try to take down the chairs by the Ink Pressure."

"A'ight," Caleb responded.

"Actually, take Swib with you too. Squiggly, let's look through hallways, hm?"

Nods passed around the group.

Again, they split.

 

 

The chair wasn't moving.

It's not like Ben expected it to, anyways.

"How on Earth are we going to get past this?" Michael muttered.

"I have no clue," Ben bluntly admitted.

"Surely it wouldn't be too hard to just..." Caleb grabbed a leg of a chair, braced himself, and then heaved.

A crack rang out.

Caleb went to pull again, before a shout stopped him.

"Look out!"

He backed away just in time to avoid a projector falling from the blockade.

"Oh sh-"

The crash made them all wince.

"Ok so maybe not," Caleb amended.

Michael approached the wall again, inspecting the legs of the chairs. Ben joined in as well.

"There's some sort of pattern to it," Michael noted.

"Hey wait a minute. I think I see something gleaming on the other side," Ben said.

Instantly Michael and Caleb were peering between the chairs.

"Holy... Is that the gear?"

"It is!"

"We need to get this thing apart ASAP!" Caleb grabbed at a chair leg again, but instead of pulling like he had before, he worked to unravel it from its brethren.

It didn't work.

Ben sighed. "This is going to take a while."

 

 

"I just had a thought."

Hailey glanced over to Will. "Yeah?"

"The... The Bendy hall."

"No."

"Squiggly-"

"No no no. I'm not going down that thing."

"Come on. What if we're missing someth-"

"I'm staying away from that thing-"

"Squiggly."

Will placed a hand on Hailey's shoulder. "I don't like that hall either. But they're just cutouts. They aren't going to hurt us."

Hailey took a deep breath. "Ok. Fine. But you're going in first!"

The Brit chuckled. "Alright. Fair enough."

The closer the two got to the infamous Bendy hall, the closer Hailey grew to Will. She was practically clinging to the back of his jacket before the door was even opened.

"It's alright," Will said, placing his hand on the doorknob. He noticeably hesitated before opening it.

Will took a deep breath as he entered, Hailey keeping a firm grip as she followed. She already felt her headache growing.

Most of the lights were broken, making the hallway dim and shadowing the faces of the band of Bendy cutouts at weird angles. Bendy stickers were pasted on the floor and ceiling, posters lined the walls of the narrow hall. Everywhere Hailey turned, she saw another grin. Everything was dusty, but there weren't even any cobwebs.

Not even spiders dare enter the demon's domain.

Hailey took a deep breath, focusing on the man in front of her. Will was carefully pushing his way past cutouts, shuddering every now and then.

She wasn't alone.

Hailey closed her eyes, listening to the silence of the hall.

The quiet was disrupted by their footsteps, along with the occasional wood scraping.

Too quiet.

"See? This isn't so bad, is it?"

Hailey jumped slightly at Will's sudden remark. "Yeah. Whatever. How much longer does the hall stretch?"

"Can't tell. They really didn't care about the lighting here."

Hailey snagged her foot on a cutout and eeped, jumping aside. Another cutout was waiting for her.

Bendy's cheerful face stared into her soul from both sides.

She risked a glance behind her, and saw even more Bendy cutouts staring her down until the hall descended into darkness again.

How long had they been walking?

How long did they have left?

Why did the cutouts seem to be staring at her, specifically?

She gulped before rushing after Will and clinging to him again.

"Squiggly, we'd get a lot more done if you helped me move these cutouts out of the way. Hiding behind me really does nothing."

"Too many cutouts. I just..." Hailey let out a strange noise that somehow conveyed her fear and reluctance perfectly.

"They're more of a nuisance than scary."

"To you."

Hailey could feel the stares. Bendy. All around her. Watching. Smiling.

Always. Smiling.

Her head pounded.

Something brushed her arm.

She lashed out, sending a cutout that had drawn too close for comfort crashing to the floor.

"You ok?"

Hailey barely even acknowledged the Brit's concern. She stomped down on the cutout's horned head, cracking it in two.

_'Destroy the Grinning Demons.'_

Hailey threw another cutout to the floor in a rush of adrenaline, fear, and loathing.

_'Wipe the smiles off their faces.'_

"Squiggly, calm down!"

Hailey looked up from the fallen dead marketing to the hallway.

They smiled at her.

Taunting her.

She was grabbed from behind.

She yelped and tried to lash out before she was turned around, and her eyes met Will's.

She paused, catching breath she hadn't realized she had lost.

"What did the cutouts do to you?" Will joked, lips twitching in a faint smirk.

"I... I don't know. I just..."

She lowered her gaze. "I really don't like these stupid Bendy cutouts."

"Then lets get moving. The quicker we get to the end of the hall, the quicker we can get away from 'em."

Hailey nodded, taking a deep breath as she lifted her head again.

She froze.

"Will... Will, behind you!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry.
> 
> Questions? Suggestions? Critiques? Juicy theories? Leave a comment (or a kudos if you really liked it)! Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading!


	8. Tortured

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~Am I creepy yet?~~

"So. We can't use force."

"Not unless you want to watch your head constantly," Ben confirmed with a glance over to Caleb.

"But we need to get through to get the gear," Michael added.

"And to get to the ink pressure," Ben said with a nod.

"Alright, this has been a nice restating-the-obvious moment, now let's get back to work," Caleb interrupted.

"Whoever- or whatever- put this here had to be a mad scientist or have some sort of magical abilities because this is... literally impossible," Ben murmured. The legs and backs of the chairs were intertwined in such a way that he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Can't we just get rid of the projectors so we can yank this thing apart?" Caleb suggested, peering around the top of the wall for any of the dangerous objects.

"I don't know. We can try."

Ben gave a chair a tug, glancing around the top as well.

"I see one," Michael warned, gesturing to it.

"How do we get it down? I don't think any of us will be able to reach that high."

"And there's one in here, but it's behind a chair."

"I see a board sticking out a bit, too. I'm not sure if we can reach it, though."

The men paused, exchanging glances.

"We're screwed either way, aren't we?" Caleb grumbled.

"Maybe we just have to look for a different approach," Ben advised, once again stepping back to scan over the wall of chairs that blocked them from their goal.

 

 

"It's here!"

Dual footsteps pounded down the hallway, disregarding the wave of cutouts.

"We actually found the plushie!" Hailey cheered, letting herself slow to a stop at the end of the hall.

The doll was propped against the wall, seated on a box. Cutouts circled it.

Will picked it up, dusting it off. "I told you we could have been missing something."

"Alright. We found it, now let's get out of here."

The longer Hailey was in this cursed hall, the more and more she found herself hating Bendy's face. The same eyes and grin, staring at her from all angles. Not to mention, the pain in her head getting even worse. The dim lights and stuffy, dusty hall were really getting to her.

Will didn't respond right away, still focused on the doll. After a few seconds, he nodded and started back down the hall.

Hailey didn't cower away this time. The faster they went, the sooner they could shut the door on the stupid cutouts and never look down the hall again.

She had to admit, in the end, Will was right. The cutouts no longer scared her. They just annoyed her to no end. Something inside her wanted to wipe them all out. Just get rid of them, and spare herself and Will the trouble.

It seemed like forever before they saw the door. Hailey practically bolted towards it.

"Hey, wait up!"

As soon as both of them were outside, Hailey slammed the door shut.

It gave a sharp echo before everything fell silent.

They could hear murmuring from further off where their companions remained, puzzling over chairs.

Hailey leaned against the door, taking a deep breath. The pain was starting to spread further through her head.

"Are you sure you're ok, Squiggly?" Will inquired, placing a hand on her arm.

"Yeah. Just need a break. Let's get the plushie back to its pedestal."

The two made it to the pedestal room without further incident.

As Will set the doll where it belonged, Hailey slid down the wall to the ground and buried her head in her knees.

"Squiggly?" Will sat beside her, gently patting her back.

"Just give me a moment," She mumbled, sitting up and taking deep breaths.

Will waited patiently until Hailey relaxed, hugging her legs.

"I'm not sure how soon the others will be done," He began.

Hailey only gave a small grunt in acknowledgement.

"And we still have to find the gear."

Hailey sighed, resting her forehead on her knees.

"I know you're not doing too well, but are there any halls we haven't checked?"

"Yeah," Came the quiet response. Hailey lifted her head again. "Michael, Caleb and I never finished the one hallway. But just give me a moment. My head hurts and I can hardly think."

"Still have a headache?"

"Yup. And it's getting worse."

Hailey leaned back on the wall, closing her eyes and trying to relax. It felt like something was pounding on her head, and it wouldn't stop.

"The sooner we get the items, the sooner we can get out of here," Will reminded.

Hailey sighed deeply. "Yeah. Ok. Let's go."

 

 

_Bang. Bang. Bang._

"Stupid. Fucking. Chairs. Making. Zero. Sense."

Caleb thumped his head on a leg of one of said chairs, gripping it with both hands.

"Caleb, you ok?" Ben asked from where he was kneeling, trying to pry a loose chair out with Michael.

"I'm really not. I have never hated chairs so much in my life."

They certainly weren't helping his headache. But then again, neither was repeatedly hitting his head on one...

Caleb stopped and kneeled beside the two. "So what are you doing?"

"This chair's legs aren't stuck like the others, so we're using it as a starting point," Michael explained.

Ben nodded. "Since it's on the bottom it'll be tough, but at least it's a start."

Michael put a hand on the chair above the one they had been working on and tugged on the loose chair. Caleb decided to help, holding the above chair up as far as he could (which wasn't much, considering the amount of entanglement the chairs were in) as the other two continued to pull.

Finally, they pried the chair from its brethren's grips.

The wall sagged.

Caleb kept his hand on the upper chair, not trusting the rickety thing's stability.

And that was a wise choice as well, because a crack was heard from somewhere within the wall. Instantly both other men joined in holding the wall up.

"Ok, well, this thing just became one giant deadly Jenga tower," Ben joked, despite nervousness leaking into his tone.

Michael glanced at Ben in confusion. "What?"

"Jenga," Ben repeated. "You've never played it?"

"No?"

"Man, you have no childhood," Caleb teased, trying to lighten the mood and distract from the fact that they were all endangered by _chairs._

"Back to the matter at hand here, how do we fix this!?" Ben exclaimed, almost hysterically.

Caleb shrugged the best he could. "We'll figure it out... Hopefully..."

 

 

"Wait a minute."

Even through her thought-obliterating headache, Hailey knew something was wrong.

"We opened almost all of these doors before."

"What do you mean?" Will asked from behind her.

Only a singular door in the hall was opened.

"We didn't close any doors..."

Hailey walked up to one and tried to open it, to find that it was locked.

"It happened here too?" Will muttered, following Hailey and trying another door. Locked.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Hailey groaned.

"But that means the last door is important, right?" Will offered.

"Let's find out."

The remaining open door was yet another hallway. Hailey rubbed her temples as she entered.

Her stupid headache was getting more and more oppressive, beyond what she thought was possible.

Just one more hall.

She checked a few doors, finding them all locked.

Why was it getting harder to breathe?

"Will," She gasped.

No response. She turned to face him.

"Will, there's something wrong."

Her hands were shaking.

"What's wrong?" Will inquired.

Hailey stumbled towards him, words not forming. He stepped forward to catch her, but said nothing.

Why was her head hurting this much?

She looked up at him, but her eyes caught something under the collar of Will's jacket.

She slowly moved the fabric aside. Bruises littered the base of the Brit's neck.

Her knees buckled and she nearly fell.

"W-Will... What..."

Hailey grabbed onto him tighter, feeling her legs grow weaker.

"I... I can't..."

Her vision was growing dark. Was she dying? What was happening?

She collapsed, and the comfort that was the presence of a friend vanished.

 _"Just hurry up,"_ She heard behind her.

That voice. It wasn't Will's.

Where was he?

Was she screaming, or was it in her head?

_"I'm tired of waiting around for you."_

She couldn't get up.

_"You aren't helping, just messing around. We have things to do."_

She gave up the fight, letting herself fall into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions? Suggestions? Critiques? T h e o r i e s? Leave a comment (or a kudos if you really liked it)! Hope you enj̪̙͐̐oye̦̮d!


	9. Dis̽ma̫̭̓̈́ntled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fina̤lly dis͉͎̽̑ma͛̐ntled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting clos̨͖̝er and clos̛͙̹͉͛er to the end! This̭̫ is̛ jus͓͍̍̇́͜t the ca̞̦̜lm b̨̝̓̓̾ͅefore the s̪torm...

"I have an idea."

"Mind saying it quickly before we experience death by chairs?"

"Grab onto the chair just above this one. Maybe it'll fall on it's own?" Ben suggested.

"We can try," Michael mumbled, switching his grip to the chair above.

Caleb sighed as he joined in, Ben moving with him.

The chair didn't fall, but it was slightly easier to hold up the wall.

"Good enough," Ben decided.

"Wait, you keep holding it up," Michael said. "I'll try to pull this chair out."

The two did as they were told.

Michael couldn't pry the chair away.

"I tried," The acapellist sighed, returning to hold the wall.

"You tried," Ben repeated.

"Try harder?" Caleb suggested.

Before Caleb's advice could be heeded, a shout was heard from further into the workshop.

"Caleb? Where are you? I need your help!"

The three men exchanged looks.

"Was that Will?" Ben murmured.

"I'll see what he needs. Maybe he and Hailey found the other part?" Caleb shrugged as he started to leave.

He paused.

"Where'd you put the chair you pulled out?" He suddenly asked.

"Right behind-" Michael paused, glancing back.

"We'll worry about the studio's continuity later, go help Will," Ben urged. Caleb nodded before heading off.

The wall let out another crack.

Michael and Ben exchanged a look of rising fear.

 

 

"So, what's up?" Caleb greeted as he met up with Will. The man's easy-going attitude dissipated quickly upon seeing the worry across the Brit's face, however.

"I can't find Squiggly."

"Wait, you can't find her?"

Will was already walking down the hall at a frantic pace. "We were checking out a hallway and then she was gone. I don't know where she is."

Caleb was practically jogging to keep up with the other man. "Did you call for her?"

"No response."

"Did you hear any noises that are suspicious in a horror setting?"

"Nothing."

"Well, crap."

Will pulled at a door to find it locked. "Damn it, not again!"

"You and Hailey were in this hall?"

"Yeah. But now it's locked!"

Caleb sighed, facepalming. This studio really needed to keep it's object permanence in check.

Why did his headache keep growing?

Will muttered something under his breath and started off towards the main room.

"Where are you going?" Caleb called as he tried to keep up.

"I can't help but feel like we're missing something," Came the response.

The man sighed, but continued to follow his friend.

Will froze at the end of the hall before the main room.

"Did anybody check that door?"

Caleb looked up to see a door tucked beside a cabinet.

"I... I don't know?" He rubbed his head. It sure would be a lot easier to think if his headache wasn't deciding to be hellbent against it.

Will approached, checking the knob. The door swung open with a creak. The Brit glanced back at Caleb, an unreadable emotion on his face.

Caleb slowly entered, finding it to be a short hallway with a turn at the end.

Why was his head pounding?

He heard footsteps behind him.

Then the door closed.

Then he peeked around the corner.

Then he saw them.

_Chairs._

He groaned loudly. Why chairs? He'd seen enough of them already. Why did chairs insist on making weird walls where they didn't exist before? Where they shouldn't exist?

The new wall of chairs stared him down. The wooden seats seemed to hold an air of malice and taunting. Beckoning him forward. The omniscient chairs had watched and waited for too long. They needed to be stopped. They dared him to stop them.

...

_'Am I going insane from being in this studio for too long?'_

Caleb shook the chair thoughts out of his head, deciding to use his method of force. No projectors were in the way this time.

In contrast to the previous wall he had battled with, a simple tug sent them all crumbling.

Crumbling down right on top of him.

Before Caleb could even yell, the wind was knocked out of him. He hit his head on the ground and gasped.

The pain spiraled in. He was dizzy, stunned, and trapped.

A figure was standing. Watching him. He couldn't make out who- or what- it was.

_"That should be good, right pal?"_

That wasn't a voice he recognized either.

He tried to struggle, but everything was growing fainter. With a final gasping sigh, he let the darkness take over.

 

 

"I have another idea."

Michael sighed. "Anything is better than being sitting ducks for chairs."

"Stand up carefully."

The two men slowly stood, keeping their hands on the wall in support.

"On the count of three, pull and run. If I'm assuming correctly, the wall will fall and these chairs will disappear too."

"And if you're not?"

"Then we'll have to dig through a pile of chairs."

Michael sighed again. "Fine, whatever. Let's hope this works."

"One."

Each man braced themselves.

"Two."

Legs and arms tensed.

"Three!"

The two heaved before running. They nearly crashed into each other, but got around the corner just in time.

A loud, roaring crash sounded out, and the two men covered their ears instinctively.

Once the roar had settled, they turned to look.

As predicted, there was no sign of the wall.

Ben sighed in relief, running a hand through his hair. "Finally."

Once they had taken a mere step back in the pressure room's direction, however, a familiar face peeked around the corner.

Both Ben and Michael jumped as the Bendy cutout appeared, only for it to return a second later.

"Oh. Great. So that still happens," Ben murmured. He sighed as he entered the pressure room. Michael was right behind him.

"You stay here to turn the pressure on. I'll bring the gear to it's pedestal," Michael proposed. Well, Ben supposed it was a proposal, despite Michael's tone making it sound more like a statement.

Ben nodded, pulling a chair up to the ink pressure button and sitting.

Michael picked up the shimmering gear. "Meet us by the machine when it's on."

The acapellist left.

Everything fell silent.

Ben waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questions̨̻? ̓͐̈́͝S̄͋̾͑̂ugges̨tions̪̙̍͝? Critiques̛̅? Theories̜̑!? Le̺͘a̭͘ve ̼aͅ comment (or ̅a͑ kudos̄ if you rē͉â̠lly liked it)! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
>  
> 
> 2̴̨̛͖̬̙̮̝͉͙̥͐̓̐̌̏͐̽0̸̡̝̲͉̖̠͍̮̃̂̈́̿̂̍̃̚ͅ ̷̧̡̡̧͖̟̦̹̅̍͌̃̾͑̐͗͊ͅ8̷̛̜̰̦̫̼̰͔̘̭̓͒͆̏͆̌̚͠ ̷̨̢̲̙̰͈̗͇̜̈̄̆̃̐̒̈́̕͝5̷͖̦͚̫̫̲̙̳̘͗̅̿̓̎͂͘̚ ̴̢̡̳̹̮̪̫̝̫͐̎͆͆̆͊̏̏͠2̶̨̛̰̹̺̝͍̰̮̊̏̌̈́͑͂͛͌͜5̸̨̧͈̟̫̰̬̯̪̋̾͆̅͑̇͒͊͘ ̷̹̖͙̤̲̖̝̬̹̈̃̈́̌̑̅̄͘̕'̸̧̣̭̙̹͉̠͖͊̌̒̏̋̑̌͒ͅ ̸̡͍̮̟̫̰͈̳̈͛̀̏̑͋̉̃̕ͅ1̸̢͚͙̦̭̫̲̟͇͐͆̂̇́̉̌̽̓8̵̟̭̘̫̪̞̲͉̬̿̃̆̇̆̃̂̈́̓ ̸̘͕̫̪̤͍̪͕̟̃̓̓̓͂̓́͠5̸̡̥̰̟̹̙̙̪͛̀̌̾͗̂̄̑̊͜ ̵̮̱͉̘̠̪̣̖̊̓̌̿̏̀̆̏̕͜ ̷̨̝͔̼̘̙̝̭̑̃̐̔̄͆͊̄̉ͅ1̷̹̟̼͉̻͖̳̻̖̑̂̿̔͒̄̽͂͝ ̷̮͎̱̭̹̱̳̠̆̾̽̄̑̃̽͋̐ͅ1̵̠̩̩̯̭͇̱̟̟̐̽̈͗͐͋̄̓͠2̴̲̱̫̼̬͖͙̰̪̀̏̐͋̍̈́͌̾̕ ̷̧̡̢̠̙̺̗͉̔̏̓͐̈͐̏̆̕ͅ1̶̧̨͉̖̠̗̹͉̯͛̅̈͑̐̓̏̃̚8̴̧̫̘̥̭̣͇̞͉̃̊͂̏̾͒͐̈͝ ̵̨̱̲͓̤͕̪͔̑̈́́̾̂͌̚͘ͅ5̶̧̯̯͎̪̭͚̟̻̓̌̓͐̎̌͊̉͘ ̷̧̛͇͍̼͉͓͖̝̳͌́̈́̈́̓̌̌͠1̵̡̛̰̙̼̤̞̏̏̇͆̊̋̅͜͝ͅͅ ̸̛̱̝̹̜̘̜̳̜͛̓̐̈̎̏͜͝͠4̴̧̦̱͓̮͎͔͔̹̃̈̏͂̓̈́̅́͆ ̴̢͇͖͕̘̟͎͍̰̂͋̏͗̉́̈́̕͝2̶̡̟͙̼̹̥̺̤̑͗̓͛̕͜͠͝͝͝5̵̫̻̞͓͖̫͇̫̠̅̐͆̿̓̀̆͑͝ ̷̨̧̦͎͓͍̹̥̝̆̈́̎͊̓̋̆͝͝ ̸̨͚͔̻̯̤̰̖̱̾́̿̊̚͘͠͝8̴̢̦͎̥̯̮͇̰̖͊̂̿̉̈̿̈́͂ ̶̡͎̹͈͍̤͈̹̈̊̂͌̈́͌͒̕͠ͅ5̸̧͍̟̖̹̞̖͙̔́̈́̊̐̓̏͝ͅ ̸̛̛̻̰͍̺̼̫͙̞̩̊̈͛̚͘͝͝1̵̪̣̥̝̦̞̻̫͂́̏̔̐̄ͅ8̷̢͙̯̹͖̮̻̩̭͗̿̍̉͗̉̈́͆͘ ̷̙̣̭̭̹͓̬̻͕̋̔̈́͋̉͋͒̄͠5̴̡̡̥͇͕͈͍̮̖͆̓̃̈̅͗͆̽̈


	10. A͈͕l͈̼̻̎̓͑iv͍͍e̱̗

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Y̾̈́ͮo̦̍͗u'͆͂̌v̼̝͍e ͚͚̰waͦ͊̚i̇̈́t͛͂̚ed ͭ̽̈́tͤ̇͛oo͔̐ ͖ͫͮlͨ̔̊oͪͫͤng  
> N̰̾́o͑̐́w͖ i̭ͮ̑t̗̫͍'̯̄s ͆t̪̊͐im̱͆e̓͛ͣ t͋ͤͤo͓͂̌ ͥf̠̆i͂n̳̿̃i͌ͧ̈s̙̣̙h͍ ̖͔̤t͈ͩh͂ͬ͗ĕ͈ͦ ̬͊sh͓͑o̒̏w̰  
> Ṟ̼̯oūͩ̓n̜̱dͬ͆ͩ and̟ ͧ̋r͔̈ͬoͧủ̠ndͪ͋ ỉt ̥̊͋go͎ě̀ͅs̠  
> W͍ͣ̚hen̩ͯ͐ ͓̓̏it sͣ̾͂țop͎ͬ̾s, only Hell knows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We͋̑͛'̏ͣř̻̂ͅe al͎͓m͌o͋̎st͈̲ ̦̰a̦ṭ̥̋̊ ẗ̮͔ͩh̘̝̿̑e̫ ͕̘͓e̙n͛d ̟͉ͮͭõ̑f͚ͣ th̞̹i͚͇̿̄ŝ̘̦͓ͤ͂ ̼̍r̍͗̚i͓̜̎ͪd͉̬͎eͫ!ͧ͐̾ ͕̦̟͂ͭ̄T̯̹̺h̦͆a͍̻͖ń͊̈́ks ͓͎̙̿̓̑f̥͆o͓͒r͇ ̣ͣṯ̲͒̀h̐ẽ͎̝̃ ̘̞̂̾su̦̪͊́p̝̱̹̽͑̽p̹̿̋ͅo̝̤̅̅r̯̆t İ̒̊'̤̭ͫͪṿ̰͖̓͊̆ë̼̠̲͌́ rec͓̰eiv̗̾e͎͙d̰̱͖̓͆ͨ.ͪ̀ͥ Aͅnd̝̰̰̃̒̌ n͇̹̤ͯ͌̀ȏ̆w̬͊ ̭̀̎ͅw̦it̪h̭̠̯͑̿̉o͈̦̭u̩͍̹tͯͨ ̲̗̟f̬͆ur̪̱tͬ̋hȇ̏r ͎̜̗ăd̻o͉̜̼, ̈C͈͓͒ͬha͔͐pte͔r͓̣͇ ̲͎̎̓10͖̥.̲̓

_"Is it done?"_

_"Almost."_

_"Almost? What do you mean almost?"_

_"It's done. I finished it."_

_"It's done?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Then let's hurry up."_

_"We can't go too quickly."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"It could arouse suspicion-"_

_"Are you blind?"_

_"I'm sorry."_

_"It's fine."_

_"Enough bickering. Let's get this over with."_

_"Have patience. We need to get this right."_

_"We're all clear."_

_"Good. Let's finish what we started."_

_"I hope this works."_

_"It will."_

 

 

Ben drummed his fingers on his leg, waiting. It seemed too long since Michael left. Did they still have to find the plushie? He didn't think about that.

But wouldn't Will and Hailey have found it already, especially with Caleb's help?

Ben sighed. He had no clue.

Turning the machine on better get them out of here. Come to think of it, why were they even turning it on? Would they have to play through the whole game to get out again? Couldn't Henry die in Chapter 2?

_'We're not Henry.'_

The thought came to him again. They weren't Henry.

Would the game even work the same, considering that?

Would they even-

No. They were going to get out of here. They-

The Ink Pressure button clicked beside him and startled Ben out of his thoughts. He pressed it and stood. The projector clicked on as well, playing a song and a clip of Bendy dancing while smiling at him.

He sighed as he walked past the projector. He'd seen enough Bendy for now, thank you very much.

A crack sounded, and a pipe burst above him. Before he could even move he was showered in a jet of ink.

He closed his mouth and covered his eyes, quickly backing away from it.

"Ah, crap-"

The floor flooded quickly. He let out a small groan.

Great. Wonderful.

He shielded his face from the running stream of ink as he left the room and started heading down the hall.

The pipes moved now, thrumming with the life of the menacing ink within. An almost humming sound reached Ben's ears from deeper within the studio. The wood creaked. It seemed more fragile now. More volatile.

Was Bendy alive now? Would they have to fight their way out of the studio? Did they make the wrong choice?

Ben kept moving.

The humming grew louder. It almost sounded like someone singing in the distance.

Were they waiting for him? They probably were.

There was almost a shuffling noise from within the walls.

The lights flickered strangely. As if in turning the machine on, the waning power was taken away from the already poor lighting and used by the ink machine. In some areas they strobed so rapidly they hurt his eyes. The already dim studio had an even more dark air to it now.

Ben kept moving.

The humming was steady, growing in volume. Like man and machine combining their voices in one low tone.

The most broken light yet flickered with a brilliant passion, as if it didn't want to go out quite yet. One more corner and he would be at the machine.

"Guys? I'm here!"

He squinted through the light, the bright flashes almost blinding him. The humming was louder. He turned the corner.

His friends were nowhere to be seen.

The machine room wasn't boarded up as before.

He blinked the light out of his eyes, looking into the room. A flicker of movement from within caught his eye.

A sharp pain cracked through his head and he fell to the floor.

 

 

_"Why are we waiting? Everything is ready."_

_"Be. Patient."_

_"Fine."_

What happened?

Ben's ears rang slightly. The back of his head hurt. The smell of ink nearly made him gag.

_"Can we just get this over with?"_

_"Shut up."_

He opened his eyes. He saw the wooden, ink-stained wall of the studio in the dim, waving light of a candle.

_"Again, I don't get why-"_

_"Enough."_

_"What, are you a sadist now?"_

_"You little-"_

_"Hey now! Arguing ain't gonna do nothing."_

A figure moved in his peripheral vision. Ben glanced at it, but the figure's face was out of the light before he could see their identity.

"He's awake", A deep male voice stated.

"I see that," Another higher-pitched male voice retorted.

They sounded familiar but... Ben couldn't place his finger on it.

"What-" Ben tried to turn and look at the people, but found it difficult. He was tied up.

"You were waiting for him to wake up?" A feminine voice snapped. That one sounded a lot more familiar. Almost like...

"Hailey?" He muttered.

"Don't you trust me?" The second voice asked, sounding almost mocking.

"I never did," The voice he thought was Hailey's responded.

The figure crossed into the candlelight again. His heart skipped a beat.

It _was_ Hailey.

"What are you doing?" Ben whispered in confusion.

'Hailey' snorted, looking down at him coldly before stepping out of the light and fading back into the darkness. "He doesn't get it."

"Of course he doesn't," A fourth voice chimed in. It was also masculine and slightly deep, but smoother than the first voice.

"Shut it, all of you," The second voice snarled.

Ben glanced in the second voice's direction just in time to see a face slip by the candlelight. Was that-

"So are we going to get this over with, or are you gonna mess with him more?" 'Hailey' asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

"For the last time, would ya be patient?" 'Will' shot. Ben followed the outline of his figure as he continued to circle.

"Just wait. It'll be worth it," The first voice promised. Ben looked in it's direction just as the figure escaped the candlelight. But Ben recognized the shape of the figure.

"Uh, Caleb? Will? Is this a prank?"

"He really doesn't get it," The fourth voice nearly whispered. Ben squirmed in the ropes a little to locate the man. He only saw a glint before the figure disappeared again.

"Your friends are gone," 'Hailey' bluntly growled behind Ben.

"W-what?" Ben stammered, more dumbfounded than scared.

"Are humans always this slow?" 'Caleb' muttered.

The fourth figure had crossed into candlelight. 'Michael' glanced pointedly in 'Caleb''s direction, clearing his throat.

"No offense, Sammy," 'Caleb' amended.

_'Sammy?'_

Ben's gaze darted around the circle at the four figures surrounding him. Occasionally one would cross the candlelight again and Ben would catch a cold or hungry glare.

"Uh... Ha ha. Nice prank, guys. Untie me and let's get going," Ben said as he faked a smile. He was starting to think this was more than a prank.

'Will' paused in front of a candle in Ben's plain view.

_'Not a prank not a prank-'_

"Your friends are **gone** ," 'Will' articulated slowly, practically baring his teeth at Ben.

Ben felt himself tense.

"Enough playing with him, I'm tired of waiting," 'Hailey' whined.

"I think we all know your opinion by now, Alice," 'Will' sneered.

_'Alice?!'_

Ben squirmed again, trying to worm his way out of the ropes. On the floor below him a pentagram-like shape was drawn in ink.

"The sooner we start the ritual, the sooner you'll get your bodies back," 'Michael' reminded.

Instantly 'Will' froze.

_"Sammy!"_

The other man paused, and Ben caught a sliver of his facial expression from the edge of candlelight. Fear.

"What did I tell you?" 'Will' practically hissed.

"I-I'm sorry, my Lord!"

The dots connected.

"N-No... no way..." Ben murmured.

"Heavens above, is he finally catching on?" 'Hailey'- No. Alice Angel- scoffed behind him.

"I suppose so," 'Wi- Bendy growled.

Questions swam through Ben's head. "What did you do to them?" Was the first that came out.

Bendy sighed. "I guess we could tell you, since _someone_ was careless and idiotic enough to let it slip."

Ben saw Sammy's figure wilt from outside the light.

"We've been trapped here," Bendy muttered darkly. "Trapped for years. Existing, but not really... there, ya know?"

"Hardly alive," Alice murmured.

"Like a soul with nothing to hold it," Boris added.

"We've been waiting. Waiting for something, or someone, to come along and save us," Bendy continued.

"And then... You showed up," Alice finished.

The four circled in silence a moment more.

"It was simple, really. If we wanted to have a true life again, we'd just have to take one for ourselves," Bendy finally spoke again.

"And lookie there. Exactly what we needed strolled on in," Boris said.

"So, with a little help on a few parts," Bendy paused -Ben knew he was directing that statement at someone by his tone- "We took control of your little friends here."

"And now, we're getting our old selves back," Alice boasted.

"And you?" Bendy chuckled, sending Ben a cruel grin.

"You're the sacrifice."

 

 

A stream of curse words flew through Ben's mind. He struggled and squirmed but it was no use. The ropes were too tight. The more he fought, the harder it grew to even breathe.

The ink creatures puppeteering his friends' bodies had begun their 'ritual'. They hummed strangely in a dissonant melody, while Bendy chanted something Ben didn't bother to try to listen to. The Ink Machine kept pounding it's ever-steady rhythm, conducting the demonic symphony.

Ben's mind was running at miles a minute.

He hadn't seen enough horror movies to worm his way out of this one.

Whatever they were doing was already taking effect. Ben felt like something was... slipping away. He didn't quite know how to describe it.

He paused to take a deep breath. He had to stop them. But how?

It was getting harder to think- to even process everything.

He was starting to feel hopeless. Like he and his fellow Youtubers would simply fade away here. Like he shouldn't even try.

_'No. Think positive. Just give it that good old college try.'_

He couldn't do anything physical in his current state. By the time he was free of the ropes it would be too late.

It was getting colder and colder. The humming was getting louder.

Ben had an idea.

A stupid, stupid idea. But one that might work.

_'College try.'_

"Guys?" He called, unnerved at how weak his voice sounded. "Can you hear me?"

Nothing. The puppeteers continued their show.

"It's Ben! Er, Swiblet!"

_'Nice stating of the obvious.'_

"Listen, I know you're in there."

_'No you don't.'_

"They can't have gotten rid of you entirely."

_'What if they did.'_

"You just need to fight it. Take your bodies back. You're strong, you can do it!"

_'And if they're truly gone?'_

Ben tried to take another deep breath. It was harder to breathe, he was almost panting. If only these negative thoughts would get _out of his head._

"I believe in you!"

_**'No you don't.'** _

"You can do this. Do you all hear me? Will! Michael! Caleb! Hailey!"

"No they don't."

The response wasn't in his head this time. Ben would have jumped if it wasn't getting harder to move. 

"They do, and they can! For your family. For your friends. For your subscribers. You can-"

_"Shut up!"_

"Keep going!" Alice hissed. The previous speaker, Bendy, had stopped the chant in anger.

"You can't take them. You can't take me. Whatever the hell you're doing, we-"

**"SHUT UP!"**

Air rocketed into Ben's lungs and he gasped. The lights flashed brilliantly. He heard a scream.

 **"THEY'RE GONE, DO YOU HEAR ME?"** Bendy roared. **"AND NOW YOU ARE GOING TO SHUT UP AND JOIN THEM IN HELL-"**

A crash rang throughout the room, followed by the sound of a pipe bursting.

_"My Lord, the ritual!"_

_"What are you doing, you absolute twit!?"_

_"Bendy, calm down!"_

Ben wormed his way out of the ropes surprisingly easily, but he would worry about the studio's continuity again later.

The ritual, frankly, had gone to shit. The room (which he assumed was the machine room), was a mixture of noise and flashing lights, all of it constantly coated by the smell of ink.

Before Ben could stand, Bendy was standing over him. Pure rage marred a once-friendly face.

 **"You'll pay for this,"** The demon-in-disguise snarled.

Before Ben could respond, the floor shook with a thud.

_"Boris?"_

_"Spare me! Spare me, my Lord!"_

_"You blubbering buffoons!"_

"They won't let you hurt me," Ben stated, meeting Bendy's eyes with confidence. Bendy's breathing was labored.

Alice shrieked.

Sammy wailed.

_Thud._

Bendy stumbled, panic overtaking his expression.

"And they won't let you hurt them!"

A final pipe burst.

Bendy fell back.

Sammy let out a frantic cry.

_Thud-thud._

Ben tried to stand, but his legs gave out.

There was a final clash.

 

 

_Thud._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **H** o̼̞ͭ̓p͈̪e̺̰͑̃ͪͅ ̲͙̐̊yoǔ̠̇̂̃ **e** nj͇ò̪ye̹d͎͊! **L** e̞̰̥a̘͎v̼͉e̞ a̹̓ cͣ̀̀om̈́ͮ̊m̺͓̘ent͔͖ ̠͊(͇ỏ̬r ͈a͊ͪ̋ ̗̥̥k̹̳͈u͚̱̔ͯ̅ͅd̳͓̆̒o̝͓ͭ̔s ͙̆i̖̓f͓́ͮͅ ̀͊̅yȍu r͂e̺͍̿͋ạ̜̒ͩl̟̮̳ͧ̾̄ly̰̯̦̐̔̽ **l** i̞ḵ̱ͦ͛ë̟d̟̞̱̿̽́ i̻̩ṯͨ)͈͔ͨͯ!ͤ


	11. Finale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get to say something I never thought I would say, and it is that all five youtubers I featured have actually read this story. It's an honor to know that people who have inspired me so much have acknowledged it, and enjoy what I've written.

_'Where am I?'_

Swiblet woke up to the floor hard and cold beneath him. There was no way that that was his bed. Had he rolled off of it when he slept? No, he couldn't have.

And wherever he was, it sure didn't smell like his crappy studio apartment. Still smelt crappy, but not _his_ kind of crappy.

He opened his eyes, looking up at the dimly lit ceiling above him. Wooden planks.

It all came rushing back to him in a wave.

The studio. The parts. The doors. The chairs.

The ritual.

Ben sat up so quickly it made his head spin. He was in a hallway of some sort, and he wasn't alone.

One of his companions made a small noise, beginning to stir.

"Will? Will, wake up."

Will jumped before pushing himself up. Bright blue eyes met Ben's own brown ones.

"Swiblet?"

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah? Where the hell are we?"

There was another small groan as one of their other companions slowly woke up.

"Ugh, what on Earth?" A female voice muttered.

"Hailey!" Ben exclaimed, cutting off Will.

"Will? How did- Swiblet! Where are we?"

Ok. This was getting _weird._

"Guys, what do you last remember?"

Hailey propped herself up on her elbows with a sigh. "Give me a moment."

A loud, low moan rang through the hallway, followed by a murmured "Shut up and let me sleep."

"Oh my god," Ben muttered. This place was slowly driving him insane.

Will gently kicked Caleb's leg. "Get up. If you are who I think you are we may require your companionship."

The man sat up. "Where am I?"

"Caleb! Welcome to the fun, bud. None of us know what's going on."

Caleb Hyles glanced at the faces around him. "This is weird."

"No kidding," Hailey agreed, running a hand through her short hair.

"Guys-"

Ben's attempt at clarification was cut off again.

"Oh no you don't," Will grumbled at Ben's side, grabbing Michael's arm and attempting to pull him up.

"Hm? What-" The man eased himself into a sitting position, looking at his companions dazedly.

"We're all here? All up?" Ben asked.

"Why did I wake up on the floor and where are my glasses?"

He was going insane.

"Trying to figure that out, and dunno," Will yawned and pushed his bangs out of his face.

"I woke up with mine on," Hailey informed with a shrug.

"Guys. Serious question time."

Ben finally found all eyes on him.

"Think. What's the last thing you remember. And I mean _really_ think."

"Last I checked, I was in pajama's, not clothes, and I was in bed. I have no clue how any of this happened," Caleb contributed.

"Did I even go to bed last night?" Whispered Hailey as she stared at the floor in confusion.

"After that," Ben amended.

The rest of the group looked at him curiously.

"Like, dreamwise?" Will inquired.

_'Oh my god I'm going insane.'_

"Wait. Have... have we been here before?" Michael near-whispered.

"What do you-" Hailey started, before she paused.

Ben saw recollection dawn across each face in turn. He sighed in relief. Thank goodness, they actually remembered-

"What the hell, Dooves?"

Michael jumped.

"Will- Will your neck! Are you ok?"

"What was with the chairs?"

"I didn't-"

" _Dooves_ fucking had me on the floor!"

"Wait, what?"

"Answer me, Will!"

"What?"

"The chairs! You just didn't fucking care-"

"I don't know what's going on."

"I'm so confused."

"What do you mean?"

"I never did anything like that!"

"Oh-fucking-really?"

"Oh my god!"

"Will, are you alright?"

**"Guys! Let me explain!"**

Once again, Ben drew all the attention to himself. He took a deep breath.

"So basi- Oh fuck this is going to sound insane."

" _Please_ , Swib. Clarify," Will begged.

Ben hesitated.

"You were... possessed. By Bendy and friends."

Silence.

"It sounds crazy. At first I thought it was a prank but then..."

"Oh my god," Caleb whispered, laying back down and covering his face.

Michael blinked. "P-Possessed by Bendy characters."

"That... That's why you don't remember much, I suppose," Ben suggested.

Hailey brought a hand to her temple. "You're right, that does sound crazy."

Ben sighed. "Honestly, I'm just glad I got you all back. That was... weird, to say the least."

"It actually makes some sense now," Will murmured.

"I don't even wanna know what happened," Hailey groaned. "Can we get out of here already?"

"Maybe if we check the door again...?" Caleb offered, sitting back up.

All eyes turned to the door. 'EXIT' was plastered over it promisingly. A light seeped from around the edges of it. It felt as if the door was offering something. Or lying about something.

"Only one way to find out."

Everyone stood and began walking towards the door. Every creak of a plank or shift of the studio made the group freeze, but the floor didn't give way.

_'Not today, Chapter 2,'_ Ben thought to himself as he reached for the door.

Surprisingly, the knob twisted with ease.

There was a pause. As if everyone waited with baited breath in anticipation of freedom; or fear of another horror lying in wait. Movement paused as well. For once, everything was truly silent and still. Though it was not plagued with death.

It was joy of life.

Ben pulled the door open.

Everything was bathed in a brilliant white light.

 

 

 

 

Eyes flickered open.

Heads shot up.

In five different parts of the world, five people felt their beds again.

 

Will buried his face into his pillow. He wasn't ready to adult yet. Granted, he had slept through a portion of the day and it was now night, but still. No adulting yet.

He felt both well-rested and like he had run a mile at the same time.

Wait, that dream- Well, he couldn't call it a dream. It had to be more than just that.

Wait. Shit.

He finally hauled himself out of bed. He needed to check.

Will entered the bathroom and looked at his neck in the mirror. No bruises or marks whatsoever.

He sighed, leaning on the counter. He _just fucking woke up,_ he was overreacting. It was just a stupid dream-

"Ow, what-"

There was a splinter in his palm. It looked recent.

The Brit groaned.

Fuck this. He _really_ needed a Monster.

 

Hailey took a deep breath, sitting up.

Woah. Ok.

What the hell did she do to warrant Bendy torture?

She sighed, burying her face in her hands.

Was that a dream? That couldn't have been a dream. It was all too weird.

Honestly, she didn't want to think about it too much.

Studio and cutouts and Bendy and _possession?_ Hailey still couldn't even begin to wrap her head around it.

With another sigh, she checked the time. She had things to do today.

There was a movement on the bed.

She glanced up into the furry face of one of her cats.

Alright, she should save all of that for later.

 

Caleb jolted slightly as he awoke.

He was disoriented for a moment before realizing he was just in bed.

Caleb sighed, reaching for his phone to check the time.

That was a weird-ass dream.

Shit, maybe it was the Taco Bell. He was _not_ eating Mexican food again any time soon.

The man yawned, plopping his phone back on the dresser.

Kara shuffled a little beside him. With a playful grin he knew his wife couldn't see, Caleb slowly reached over to poke her.

"It's not time to wake up yet, go back to sleep," He whispered. A sleepy chuckle was the response.

More things were popping into Caleb's mind.

It... it had seemed like a dream. But at the same time it didn't.

It didn't help that he believed in the paranormal, to an extent. But video game characters?

"That means you need to sleep too," Kara reminded.

"Aww," Caleb jokingly whined.

The couple shared a quiet laugh before snuggling closer to each other.

Caleb could worry about bad things later. Right now, he was happy.

 

Ben yawned, desperately trying to shove memories of the night aside.

It was time to get up.

He was glad for the distraction.

Ben had so many different questions and thoughts about the whole studio thing.

Was it ever a thing? It could have been a dream.

If it was real, had anything been left behind? Was he, or any of his friends in danger?

He both wanted to believe it, and didn't.

He had things he could work on. Things to do.

He did not want to think about the studio too much right now.

Whatever happened, it was beyond him.

It was a new day in the life of a man-saying-he's-a-duck.

Some fictional inkhell wasn't going to get in his way.

 

Michael slowly blinked awake.

What... the heck?

His mind was a bit of a mess.

Had he dreamed that whole thing?

But-

His phone buzzed.

He slept in, dang it!

He could question his mental state later.

 

 

Life moved on.

But something remained.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was amazing to write this story for you all. I hope you enjoyed it. I plan on writing something a little more... interactive... next.
> 
> 1̌͋̅̄ͯ̉͘4̗̯ ̨5̫̻̩̣ͬ̍̆̈ ͑͛̎2͈̫̙̝̖2 ̩͚͉̲͕̦̺̆͒̇̑̽͐̄5̨͇̲̘̱̤͍ͦ͗͒ͣ̔̅̃ͅ ̳̗̍ͮ1̬̫̼̝̅͐͑͊8͂̾͒̊ͩ ̽ͯ̏ͥ̉͜ ͈̤̮1̟͈͑̏5̥̠͉̞̖̳̭ͭ̆͑͆̊ͯ̍͞ ̸̺̠̟̼̭̎̎ͥͬ̄2̭̪͍̂̓ͪͦ͝ͅ2̆̃ͬ̾ ̖̗͈̬͍̫͚̓̌̆͌̈̓ͩ5͇ͧ ̭͉͓̞ͅ1̳̤̯̮̓ͨ͋ͬ͜8̧̥̹̱̗̌ͥ̓ͦ


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